Stacker for slicing-machines.



E. M. STILES.

STACKER FOR SLIDING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13. 1917.

1,290,402. Patented Jan. 7,1919.

4 sHETs-SHEET 1.

E. M. STILES.

STACKER FOR SLICING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13.1917.

1,290,402. .Pat ented Jan. 7,1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Zwz'fnasgr Iezwara 1'1 Stiles,

E. M. ST|LES.'

STACKER FOR SLICING-MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNEIB. 1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Patented Jan. 7, 1919.

E. M. STILES.

STACKER FOR sucme MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13, 1917.

1,290,402, Patented Jan. 7, 1919.

4- SHEETSSHEET 4.

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izwufness: M y A/ 2%; 120 1.4 Z3 MW/w EDWARD M. s'rILns, or MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa, nssrenon To U. s. snrome Macrame COMPANY, or LAPOJRTE, INDIANA, A CORPORATION OF INDIANA.

' srncxnn non SLICING-MACHiNES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. l,1919.

. Application filed June 13, 1917. Serial No. 174,435.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, EDVARD M. STIL'ES,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Mount Pleasant, in the county of Henry and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Eltackers for Slicing-Machines,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates stacking the slices of meat or other material, as they are cut by a slicing machine, and has for its object the provision of a. device of the character named which shall be of improved construction and more efficient in its operation than similar devices previously known.

The invention is exemplified in the combination and arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying drawings and described in the following specification, and it is more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.-

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front ele vation of a slicing machine having one emhodiment of the present invention connected therewith; Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the machine shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a frag mentary detail; Fig. e is a vertical sectional view substantially on line 4-4 of 2; Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 are detail views 0 the Operating cam and associated parts for the stacker fly; Fig. 9 is a sectional elevation on line 99 of Fig. 4; Fig. 10 is a horizontal sectional view on line 10-10of 9; Fig.1]. is a view similar to Fig. 10 but with the stacker belt in dischargingposition; Fig. 12 shows a portion of the stacker belt and its relation to the slicing knife on a larger scale than that of Figs. 10 and 11; and Fig. 13 is a. detail of the support for the stack of slic'es.

In the operation of machines for slicing most materials, it is desirable to place the slices, as they are formed, in a pile or stack on top of one another. tomary for the operator to grasp the slice as it is formed, in one hand, while he turns the machine with the other, and place the slices in stack formation. This, of course, is an inconvenient method of operation and in many cases is unsanitarywhere the openator is not sufficiently careful with regard to the'cleanliness of his hands. Moreover;

during the slicing of meat and similar subto mechanism for It I has been cus stance, this old mode of operation renders the hands greasy so that they must be washed with soap before the operator may perform other tasks. It is, therefore, very desirable to provide'a machine which shall PBIIifOI'm the stacking Operation mechanica y.

In. the drawings, the numeral 1 desig- "nates the base of aslicing machine which may beof well known andapproved construction and which is provided with a standard 2 carrying the usual form of disk knife 3 for cutting slices from a piece-of material 4 carried on a reciprocating table The table 5. is moved toward and away from the knife 3to feed the material to the knife by acrank .6 and pitman 7. T he crank ti iscotinected by means ofythe bevel gearmg with the main drive shaft 8 which is rotated by means of the hand wheel 9, or

which may be rotated by a motor in the case of a power machine. The material lis fed across the table 5 by means of a plate ll and ratchet mechanism 11, in a manner well known in the art. 1

As the slices are cut from the front portion of the material 4 they are received on I prongs or spikes 12 which are carried by upright bars 13 secured at their upper and lower ends to the links of chains 1-1 and 15, respectively. The bars 13 have their upper and lower ends respectively, formed integral with the links of the chains 14 and 15, and are ofiset relative to the plane of the pivotal. connections 16 of the links, as shown in Figs. 4: and 10. Theprongs 1.2 of the bars 13 project from the bars toward the plane of the pivotal connections 16 of the chain links, and the prongs are of sufficient length to bring the points slightly past the plane of" these pivotal connections, so that when a slice of meat has been forced onto the prongs, the slice will lie substantially in the lllti llil INN)

straight or'curved around a bend in their guides. The conveyor chains 14 and la are provided respectively, with guide channels 17 and .18- which are held in rigid spaced relation relative to one another by a pair of upright posts 19 and 20. The chain guides 17 and 18 and their connecting posts 19 and.20, together with necessary bracing members, constitute a unitary stacker frame which is pivotally supported on av third post 21 so that it may swing slightly about the post 21 to move the end of the frame, adjacent the knife, a suflicient distance away from the knife to permit cleaning of theparts of the machine. A supporting bracket 22 (Figs. 1 and 3) is provided for the end of the frame adjacent the knife, and the lower end of the post 20 is permitted to ex the reciprocating table 5, which connection is best shown in'Figs. 9, 10 and 11. A bracket 25 is rigidly secured to the table 5 and carries a pivot 26 on which a lever 27 is mounted. A pin 28 is carried by the upper end of the lever 27 and passes through -a slot 29 in a bar 30, which is substituted 1 v for the upright bar '13 in the'end links of the conveyer chains 14 and 15. The lower end of the lever 27 is provided with a roller 31, which travels in agroove 32 in a channel bar 33, rigidly-secured'to the frame of the machine, as shown in Fig. 1. The channel.

bar 33 and the groove 32 are given a downward turn, as shown at 34 in Fig. 9 of the drawings, at the end of the bar adjacent the slicing knife. As the table 5 moves to the right in Fig. 9, toward the slicing knife, the lever 27 and the upright bar 30 will be caused to move in unison with the table, since the lever. 27 is revented from rotation about, the pivot 26 y the roller 31 which travels in the groove 32. As the table 5 nears the end of its travel, the roller 31 will be prevented from further forward movement by the turn 34 in the groove 32. This Will cause the upper end of the lever 27 to travel at a greater'rate of speedthan the table 5, and thus increase the amount of travel of the slice carrier at'the end of the reciprocation of the table. This increase in the travel of the slice carrier occurs after the table has passed the knife and after the slice has been completely severed, and is for the purpose of moving the carrier a sufii cient amount to bring the last portion of v the slice around the bend at the end of the frame, and into the position on the front side of the carrier, from which it is discharged onto the staek. This will be best understood from Fig. 11 which shows a slice 35 in position to be discharged from the carrier. It will be readily understood that the movement of the bar 30, toward the slicing knife, will push the-entire slice carrier before it, since the links of thechain are held from buckling relative to one another by their guide channels 17 and 18. A number of idle links are provided immediately adjacent the bar 30, in order that the bars which carry the slices may be forced entirely around the curve at the end of the ide channels adjacent the knife, as shown in Fi 11. The slice engaging prongs may be omitted from these idle bars, as indicated in the figures of the drawings.

The portions of the guide channels 17 and 18 on the side of the stacker frame, adjacent the slicing machine, may be positioned at a slight angle to the plane of the slices being formed, so that the teeth of the slice carrier are gradually fed into the material as the table 5 and the slice carrying conveyerv are moved in unison toward the-slicing knife. It should be understood, however, that this feature is not absolutely essential since theslice' carrier may be arranged in a plane parallel with the face of the material being sliced and the material will then be simultaneously forced onto all of the prongs by the feeding movement of the table. Where the angular arrangement shown in the drawings is employed, the pin 28 must be made of s'uflicient length to reach the slot in the bar 30, when the bar is at the end of the guide channel, as shown in Fig. 10.

The guide channels for the slice carrier are so positioned, relative to the slicing knife and the forward edge of the table 5, that the prongs 12 are fed into the material an amount approximately equal to the thickness of the slice prior to disconnection of the slicefrom the main-body of the mate- .rial, and just sufficient clearance is provided to prevent contact between the points of the prongs and the edge of the knife as the prongs pass the knife. A guard plate 40 is located adjacent the path of movement of the slice as it is carried around the bend at the end of the stacker frame, adjacent the knife. This guard plate, as shown in Fig. 12, deflects the slice away from the knife edge and prevents it from falling away from the points of the rongs 12 at the position where it is thus deflected. The edge of the guard plate farthest from the knife is given a slightly greater curvature than that of the guides for the slice carrier, and a series of grooves 41 are provided in the edge ofthe guard through which the points of the prongs 12 ass as they travel around the curved end of the guides. By this arrangement, the slice is forced onto the prongs a suflicient amount to permit the points of the prongs to protrude slightly from the outer sur ace of the slice. This insures'the slice against any danger of falling from the prongs while it is being carried to the discharge position.

For discharging slices from the carrier, a fly 45 is provided whi h carries a Se:

ries of arms 46 arranged to pass between the rows of prongs 12 between the uprightslg and the slice 25 as the slice is carried to the outer side of the stacker, as shown in Fig.

1 1. The arms 46 are carried by en upright 47 rigidly secured to a shaft 48 journaled in bearings 49 carried on a bracket 50 secured to the frame of the machine by leg screws 51. The s'haft48 also carries a rocker arm 52 to which is pivotally attached one end of an operating bar 53. "The, opposite end of A cam 59 is secured :to the shaft 54 having its periphery arranged to engage with a roller 60 carried by a link 61 pivoted at 62 to the bar 53. The link 61 is free to swing about its pivot in one direction, as shownin cam is. so shaped that when the Shaft 54 1'9 ig. 5, but is pr v nt d f m m vem nt in the opposite direction by a. stop 63 secured to the bar 53. The periphery of the cam 59 normally bears against the roller 60 and the tetefi i h di e etio f the arrow in Fig. 6, h bar 53 will he forced outwa ly during a n -hal mm of the shaft and will be held stationary in its outermost position during a 1 the second half of the rotation of the shaft- After the shaft has made a complete rotation, the edge of the link 61 will pass over the should 4 11 the cam 59 and the bar 53 will be drawn backwardly towardfthe shaft 54 by a coil' spring 65. secured to the"bar53 by means of a pin 66, as shownin Figs. 1 and 4. The operating snrface of. the cam 59 normally operates against the roller 60 but leaves the roller just before the backward movement of the bar 53 is permitted. Ihe link 61 is provided with an additional bearing surface 67 which extends parallel ,lwith the axis of the roller 60 as shown in Fig. 7. The purpose of the additional bearing surface 67 is to release thebar 53 more nearly instantaneously than would be done if a roller alone were used. The bearing surface 67 may be set slightly farther from the cam surface than the periphery of the roller 60, to insure bearing of the cam surface on theroller duringthe principal portion of the rotation of 'the'camj In practice, however, it is customary to arrange the surface flush i t e roller and pe mit themore rapid wearing of the fixed surface to provide the necessary relief. The link which carries the roller .60 is pivotally connected to the bar 53 for the purpose of permitting reverse rotation of the shaft .54. When this shaft is rotatedin the directi n of th arrow in Fig. 5., the shoulder '64 of the cam will strike the m ement; a spr g rake or a her a s ock beari g surface 67 but this wi l not prevent rotation of the shaft since the link '61 is-free to Swing out of the way of the cam, as illus trated in this figure. V 1

When the bar 53 is released by the cam 59 70 and permitted to move toward the shaft 54 under the tension of the spring 65, the fly '45 will be rotated outwardly and downwardly about the shaft 48 and will disengage the slice 35 from the prongs 12 and carry the slice 1 before it into a horizontal position. above ,areceiringtable 70. The shoe will then fall from the fly onto the uppersurface of the table. It should be noted that the fly is operatedin the discharging direction by the spring and is returned to its initialuposition "by the cam. This secures uniform speed of operation of the fly during the discharge of the slice independently of the speed of operation of the slicing machine. This arrangementis very important since the range of speed for the best operation of thefly is not very great; Too great a speed will tend tothrow the lice away from the machine and so "prevent proper stacking, whiletoo slow a speed will p rmit theslice to drop downwardly in a crumpled condition instead ofbeing carried before the fingers 46 intoa horizontal position from which t is dropped upon the stack. Since the sprin operates with the same speed, regardles 01 the speedat which the hand Wheel 9 is rotated, theslices are always dropped from he fly uniderexaetly the same c nditions,-

and. will thereforefall evenly on top of one another and form a uniform pile.

To insure a smoother movementof the fly and to prevent shocks at thelimit of its absorber 71 1 and2) is caused to co 1 operate with aicam 72 carried by the shaft 48. This shock absorber comprises a roller 73 which is constantly pressed outwardly by a coil spring 7 4 into contact with the periphery of the cam 72. The arrangement is 1 such, that the pressure is very light upon the cam when the fly is in its uppermost posi tion but gradually increases until it be comessufiicient to overcome'the decreased tension of the spring when the fly. has 11 reached a horizontal or dischargin positi n- In his ay the. fly is imlte" i i s 1 downward movement and stopped without shock or noise'un'derexactly the sameiconditi'ons at each operation. It has been foundin practice, that as a result of the operation of these parts, the slices may be dropped a considerable distance onto the. table 7 0 and yetwill arrange themselves in a uniform stack. This makes it unnecessary to provide a table arranged to move downwardly after each slice is deposited, since the table can be set a sufficient distance below the lower limit of th mo ement of the fly to permit the formation of 13o a stack of any height ordinarily desired, without additional adjustment of the position of the table. V J

. The table 70 may be adjustably held in positionto receive the slices by means of uprights 75 carried at the ends of horizontal bars 76, projecting forwardly from the frame of the machine. Brackets 77 (see Fig. 13) are attached to each end of the table and are provided with clutch collars -78 which holdthe table-against downward movement, but permit. ready adjustment the manipulation required of the operator..

As the table 5 is reciprocated back and forth, the prongs 12 on the slice carrier will move in unison therewith for all positions except at the extreme end of the movement of the table toward the slicing knife after the material being sliced is no longer adjacent the prongs. It will thus be seen that the prongs will not interfere with the feeding of the material transversely to the plane of the knife since they always occupy a fixed position relative to the material and rec procate with it during the time that the material is fed across the table 5. As a particular slice is severed by the slicing knife,

it will be carried by the prongs 12 aroundthe curved end of the stacker frame, and will be forced more securely onto the prongs 12 by the guard plate or deflector 40. There will be no distortion of the slice during this operation since the slice engaging portions of the prongs are maintained at a uniform distance from one another, because of their position in the surface of curvature of the conveyer belt. When the slice has been entirely severed, an additional throw is imparted to the carrier by means of the lever 27 and its ide channel 32 and the slice 1s thus broug t into discharge position, as

rest, the cam 59 releases the spring and shown in Fig. 11. During the movement of the slice into this position, the fingers .46 of the fly 45 enter the space between the rear of the slice and the bars 13 and just at the time when the table 5 is passing dead center preparatory to its return movement, at which time the slice carrier will also be at the fly is rotated forwardly and downwardly to disengage the slice from the rongs and to discharge it onto the stack. uring the return movement of the table 5 and the slice carrier, the fly is forced upwardly by the first half of the cam 59 so that it is in position to enter between the prongs ofthe carrier behind the next slice during the next forward movement of the table. The fly is held in this position during the formation of the slice by the second half of the cam 59 which is spaced a uniform distance from the center of the shaft 54. The operation is repeated by a simple continuous rotation of the fly wheel handle until as many slices are deposited upon the table as is desired.

I claim:

1. The combination with a chine having a slicing knife, mechanism-carried thereby for stacking the slices formed by said knife, said frame and stacking mechanism being movable into and outof operative position adjacent the cutting portion of said knife and means for holding said frame in operative position adjacent said knife during the entire stacking operation.

2. The combination with a slicing maslicing maof a frame and chine having a slice cutting knife, of a slice stacker, and means for adjustably supporting said stacker in position adjacent the cutting portion of said knife, said supporting means being arranged to permit movement of said stacker away from said knife to allow for the cleaning of the parts of said machine and to hold said stacker in operative position adjacent said knife during the entire stacking operation.

3. The combination with a slicing machine, of a conveyer for receiving slices formed thereby, a frame for supporting said conveyer, and a pivotal support for said frame arranged to permit movement of said frame away from said slicing machine to allow for cleaning of the parts of said machine and means for holding said frame in fixed position relative to said machine while slices are carried by said conveyer from said machine. 4. The combination with a slicing machine, of a conveyer for receiving slices from said machine, and mechanism for accelerating the speed of said conveyer during a portion of its travel.

5. The combination with a slicing machine, of a movable platform for carrying the material to be sliced, a conveyer for receiving slices as they are formed, and mechanism for moving said conveyer in unison with the movement of said platform during one period of the operation of said machine and at a different rate of movement at another period of said operation.

6. The combination with a slicing machine, of a movable platform for presenting material to the slicing knife, a conveyer for receiving the slices formed by said knife, and mechamsm for operating said conveyer in forming operation and for imparting a supplementary movement thereto after the slicin operation has been completed.

The combination with a slicing machine having a slicing knife, of a platform movable toward said knife for presenting material thereto, a conveyer for receiving the slices formed by said knife, and mechanism for moving said conveyer in unison with said platform during the slicing operation and for imparting a supplementary movement'to said conveyer at a greater rate of speed than that of said platform after the slicing operation has been completed for the purpose of transferring the slice received by said conveyer away from the slicing knife.

8. The combination with a slicing machine having a slicing knife, of a conveyer for receiving slices formed by said machine, a movable platform for presenting material to said knife, a movable connection between said platform and said conveyer, and means for causing said connection to hold said platform and conveyer in 'fixed'relation with one another'during a portion of the movement of said platform and for causing said connection to impart a movement to said conveyer different from the movement of said platform during another part of the movement of said platform. Y i p 9. The combination with a slicing machine, of a slicing knife therefor, a platform movable relative to said knife for presenting material thereto, a conveyer for receiving slices formed by said machine, a lever pivotally connected to said platform and having one end thereof movably-connected with said conveyer, and a guiding cam arranged to cooperate with the other end of said lever for holding said lever in fixed position relative to said table during a portion of the movement thereof and for varying the position of said lever relative to said table during another portion of the movement thereof toimpart a supplementary movement to said conveyer at a greater rate of speed than the movement of said platform.

10. The combination with a slicing machine, of a conveyer having prongs thereon for receiving slices from said machine, and a device arranged to contact with said slices to force said slices onto said prongs, said device being positioned relative to said conveyer so that. a given portion of said conveyer gradually moves nearer to said device as it progresses along the same.

11. The combination with a'slicing machine, of a conveyer having prongs thereon for receiving slices from said machine, and a cam shaped guard ositioned adjacent the path of movement 0? said prongs and having portions arranged to enter between said prongs for forcing the slices onto said prongs.

12. The combination with a slicing ma chine, of a conveyer having prongs thereon for receiving slices from said machine, and a guard for forcin the slices onto said prongs, said guard having grooves therein for receiving the points of said prongs.

13. The combination with a slicing machine, of a conveyer having prongs thereon for'receiving slices from said machine, and a guard for forcing the slices onto said prongs and said uard having grooves therein of a gradua 1y increasing depth in the direction in which said prongs move to cause said prongs to penetratesaid slices as their points are'moved along said grooves.

14. The combination with a slicing machine, of a slicing knife therefor, a flexible conveyer having prongs thereon for receiving slices. formed by said knife, a curved guide for said conveyer, and a guard for deflecting slices away from said knife in the direction of movement of said conveyer, the deflecting surface of said conveyer being inclined slightly towardthe path of movement of said conveyer to force the slices toward said conveyor, said conveyer having ooves therein arranged to compensate or the inclination of said deflecting surface toward said conveyer to permit free passage ofv the pointsof. said prongs and to orce the slices onto said prongs. I

15. The combination with a slicing machine, of a flexible conveyer for receiving slices therefrom, the ends of said conveyer being disconnected from one another.

16. The combination with a slicing machine, of a flexible conveyer for receiving slices therefrom, the ends of said conveyer being. disconnected from one another, and means for moving said conveyer in timed relation with the movement of said slicing 19. The combination with a slicing ma-.

chine, of a flexible conveyer composed of rigid linkspivotally connected with one another for transferring slices away from said machine, a guide for said conveyer, and means for connecting said conveyer at one portion thereof with a movable portion of said machine for operating said conveyer.

90.. The combination with a slicing machine, of a flexible conveyer'having prongs thereon for receiving slices from'saijd machine, and means for guiding saidconveyer toward said machine in a plane at an angle to the direction of movement of the material being sliced.

21. The combination with a slicing machine having a knife thereon for slicing material, a table movable toward said knife for presenting the material thereto, a conveyer for receiving slices formed by said knife, a guide for said conveyer arranged at an angle to the direction of movement of said material so as to cause the conveyer to gradually approach said material as the material approaches the slicing position, and means for moving said conveyer in unison with said table toward said slicing knife.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, on this 5th day of June, A. D. 1917.

EDWARD M. STILES.

Witnesses:

THOMAS H. STILES, WILLIAM R. BUDD. 

